Safety device



Dec. 23, 1930.

v, SEITZ SAFETY DEVICE Filed Aug. 50, 1929 Patented Dec. 23, 1930 UNITEDFSTATES PATENT OFFICE,

VALENTINE SEITZ, 0F CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO SAFETY DEVICE Application filed August 30, 1929. Serial No. 389,471.

This invention relates to a safety device specially adapted for hospital windows in rooms for patients, who by reason of mental disorders of a temporary or more or less permanent character or mental excitement, are liable to attempt to escape by exiting through a window. Numerous instances of patients in hospitals or other like institutions opening windows and either falling or jumping therefrom with resulting death, have heretofore occurred, and to prevent these recurrences, great effort is often exercised by the hospital authorities to forestall exits of this character, either by maintaining attendants to keep a continuous watch or by equipping the windows with grating. The former method increases the expense of the patient and the latter method is unsatisfactory for many reasons. i Y

My safety device is designed for application to a window or windows of'a room in a hospital or other building-and it may be so applied to the window that it cannot be opened, or, if the window is ofthe sliding sash type, it cannot be opened beyond a predetermined position, except by the use of a suitable key.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved safety device fora window that is relatively simple in construction and may be readily applied to a window.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved safety .device which may be readily applied to a window of the sliding or pivoted sash type.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved safety device in which the keeper is provided-with a guard arranged to protect the locking bolt, whereby the latter cannot be held in or movedto its retracted position.

A still further object of the invention i' to provide an improved safety lock for a window having a sliding bolt anda yielding locking means within the bolt casing ar ranged to engage the outer or free end'of the bolt when retracted, so that the bolt cannot be'readily moved to its full retracted position by an unauthorized person.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a wall having a window mounted therein and showing the application to the latter of a safety device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of my improved safety device, showing the key in position.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 41t of Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5, but showing the bolt retracted and its operating key removed.

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the parts as shown in Fig. 5, with the keeper member omitted.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the wall of a building such as a hospital or other institution for patients,'this wall having an opening closed by a window of suitable construction comprising the usual frame 2 and upper and lower window sashes 3, 4, either or both of which may be slidable.

5 indicates a casing having a longitudinal barrel 5a, the bore 6 of which slidably supports a bolt 7. The barrel is closed by a wall 6a, at its inner end and this wall is provided with a stop 8, the purpose of which will later appear. The casing is provided with a plurality of outwardly extending lugs 9 having openings 9a for screws 10, whichsecure the casing to one of the side bars of the lower window sash 4. The base portion of the casing 5 is recessed, as shown at 11, to accommodate a spring 12, fixed at one end to the wall of the recess 11 and at its opposite end fixed to a pin 13 carried by the bolt 7, the spring,

12 being so connected that it is put under tension as shown in Fig. 6, when the bolt 7 is retracted, and normally tends to project the bolt outwardly into operating position. As shown at 13a, the bottom wall of the barrel 5a is formed with an elongated slot through which the pin 13 reciprocates. The bolt 7 is adapted to be manually operated in either direction from its retracted position to its operating position and vice versa by suitable means indicated at 14, one element of which constitutes a key 14a, so that when the bolt in its retracted position the window sash 4- may be freely operated at will. The operating means 14, by preference consists of a rack and pinion, the rack being provided on the bolt 7, as shown at 15 and the pinion being provided on the shank of the key 14a, as shown at 16. The bolt 7 is cut away intermediate its ends to form a horizontal wall on which the rack is provided, the bottom of this wall being cut away transversely to form ribs constituting integral rack teeth. The top and bottom walls of the barrel 5a are formed with aligned openings 17, 17a, respectively, to receive and rotatably support the pinion 16 as shown in Fig. 5, these openings being so disposed that when the pinion is inserted shown, its intermediate portion is in mesh with the rack 15, so that upon rotation of the key 14a, the bolt 7 may be operated from one position to the other.

18 indicates a yieldable latching means arranged within the barrel 5a and remote from the open end thereof. The means 18 is spaced from the stop 8 a distance equal to the length of the bolt 7 and the latter is of less length than the length of the barrel so that it has to be retracted to bring its outer end behind the latching means in order to be engaged and latched thereby. This arrangement is for the purpose of preventing the patient from readily retracting the bolt far enough to be engaged and held by the latching means. The latching means 18 consists of a ball normally pressed outwardly by a spring. The means 18 is so arranged that it engages a beveled surface 18a on the end of the bolt.

19 indicates a keeper member secured to the side of the window frame 2. This member may be attached to the lower part of the frame adjacent the sill 2a so that when the bolt 7 is in operating position, that is, projected as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4L and 5, the window sash cannot be raised, but by preference it is attached above the sill 2a to allow the sash to be raised a predetermined distance for ventilating purposes, but a less distance than that through which a patient can pass. The keeper member 19 comprises an abutment or arm 19a disposed in the path of movement of the bolt 7 and a guard 19b extending downwardly in a plane outwardly of the path traversed by the bolt. The guard preferably provided with a flange 191) which extends laterally to a point beyond the outer end of the casing 5. Vhile it may be possible to retract the bolt when the sash is down, the guard prevents such manipulation in the upward movement of the sash as the bolt 7 approaches the abutment 19a. The guard 19?) may be extended downwardly from the abutment any desired distance.

It will be understood that the key 14a is to be kept or carried by a person authorized to open the Window. When the bolt is retracted the window may be opened and closed in the usual manner. Where the patient occupying the room is mentally affected or suffering from causes which might cause him to maliciously open the window, the bolt 7 is moved to its operating position to thus prevent the patient from opening the window beyond the position determined by the keeper member.

safety device may be applied to the window frame and upper sash so as to prevent the lowering of the latter. In this application of my invention the arm 19a is provided on the lower end of the guard 19?).

Vhere the device is used to look a window hinged along one side, it is applied to the opposite side thereof and the guard prevents the window from swinging outwardly. In this application of the invention, the flange 19b is not required.

It will be understood that my device may be applied to the window or windows of any room otherwise used, but which, at any time may be assigned for use for a patient suffering mentally; for example, where a patient is occupying a room in a hotel or a private residence, my device may be applied to each window in such room and following the termination of its use, the devices may be removed at will.

It will also be understood that my device may be incorporated within the window frame and countersunk with the sash frame members when it is found desirable to so mount it.

To those skilled in the art to which my invention relates, many changes in construction and widely dilfering embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. My disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

hat I claim is:

1. In a safety device for a window, the combination of a casing mounted on the window sash and having a barrel, a bolt slidable therein, means for sliding the bolt into operating position and into retracted position within said barrel, said means including a removable operating member, and a keeper mounted on the frame of the Window and comprising an angle member, one portion of said member serving as an abutment arranged in the path of movement of said bolt when the latter is in operating position and the other portion of said member serving as a guard and extending toward the end of the sash carrying said casing in a plane parallel to the path of movement of the bolt.

2. In a safety device for a window, the combination of a casing mounted on the Window sash and having a barrel, a bolt slidable therein, means for sliding the bolt into op crating position and into retracted position within said barrel, said means including a removable operating member, and a keeper member mounted on the frame of the window and comprising an abutment arranged in the path of movement of said bolt when the latter is in operating position and a guard extending toward the end of the sash carrying said casing in a plane parallel to the path of movement of the bolt, and a flange carried by the guard extending laterally beyond the plane of the outer end of said casing.

8. In a safety device for a window, the combination of a casing mounted on the window sash and having a barrel and a chamber below the barrel and extending parallel thereto, the wall between the barrel and chamber being formed with an elongated slot, a bolt slidably mounted in said barrel and movable endwise therein, a pin carried by said bolt and extending through said elongated slot, a spring mounted in said chamber and connected to said pin and normally operating to force said bolt outwardly, a device arranged to removably engage said bolt for operating it, and an abutment carried by the window frame in the path of movement of said bolt when the window sash is operated.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

VALENTINE SEITZ. 

